Rudy's favorite smear: You're nuts! But what does his penchant for psychobabble tell us about the mayor's own mental health?
- - - - - - - - - - - - By Anna Holmes
March 22, 2000 | NEW YORK -- When New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani accused Hillary Rodham Clinton Tuesday of "projection," he exposed a penchant for psychobabble that he indulges in with surprising regularity.
Clinton had claimed the mayor racially polarized the city in the wake of the shooting of Patrick Dorismond, an unarmed black man killed March 16, by, among other reasons, releasing the records of Dorismond’s criminal history. But instead of simply rebuffing or countering Clinton's remarks, Giuliani lashed back with Psych 101-speak. "There's a process called projection in psychology," he said at a news briefing. "It means accusing someone of what you're doing. That is precisely what Mrs. Clinton is doing."
During his two terms as mayor, Giuliani has exhibited a nasty preoccupation with the mental health of others, examples of which we compiled (see "Rudy’s case history," below). According to Deborah Tannen, a linguistics professor at Georgetown and author of "The Argument Culture," Giuliani’s "specific strategy of accusing the attacker of psychological problems, that pathologizing of the attacker, seems somewhat, um, original of him." She also calls it inappropriate for a politician. "He's not in a position to truly evaluate the psychological states of the people he's talking about," Tannen says. "Secondly, it shifts the level of debate to a level that's hard to respond to. When he's talking about a psychological trait called transference or projection, how do you respond to that?"
Perhaps a look at his own case history can shed some light:
Giuliani in response to Judge Nina Gershon when she sided against New York after Giuliani sought to pull funding from the Brooklyn Museum over its controversial "Sensation" exhibit (November 1999):
"The judge is totally out of control. She's lost all reason."
Giuliani on the three anti-Ku Klux Klan members who posed as real Klan members to get near the Klan, which was demonstrating in New York (October 1999):
"I mean, what kind of a perverted human being wants to pretend to be a Klan member? You go find that person for me and I can find a serious problem that they have. You go find somebody who wants to go around pretending to be a Klan member, and I can go find a candidate for some kind of serious rehabilitation of some kind."
Giuliani about the "Sensation" exhibit (October 1999):
"I don't want any money coming out of my pocket to pay for this kind of sick demonstration of clear psychological problems. This should happen in a psychiatric hospital, not in a [city-funded] museum."
and
"I am adult enough, sensible enough and educated enough to look at this and say, 'These are displays of significant psychological problems that should take place some place else other than in a museum for children.'"
Giuliani after a caller to his radio show disagreed about Giuliani's opposition to "Sensation" (October 1999):
"Take some Valium!"
Giuliani to activist Christopher Brodeur, who was angry that Giuliani had ridiculed him and his ideas in the past (September 1999):
"Get off the phone you crazy nut!"
Giuliani talking about Brodeur (September 1999):
"I'm convinced there is something seriously wrong with him. Because a normal person doesn't do this. You don't start harassing somebody on the telephone and get involved in this kind of sick, compulsive behavior."
Giuliani on people in New York who don't clean up after their dogs (August 1999):
[They have] "a whole host of other problems that play out in their personalities."
Giuliani on Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden opposing the construction of a minor league baseball stadium (August 1999):
"Can you believe the borough president of Brooklyn is opposing it? Can you believe it? You've got to get your head examined, right? Call him and tell him to get his head examined."
Giuliani commenting on an offer Consolidated Edison made to victims of food spoilage after last summer's power outage (July 1999):
"Anybody that's taking $100 and signs a release better get their head examined."
Giuliani to a David Guthartz, a caller to his radio show who complained about the ban on pet ferrets (July 1999):
"There is something deranged about you ... this excessive concern with little weasels is a sickness ... you should go consult a psychologist or a psychiatrist with this excessive concern, how you are devoting your life to weasels. You need somebody to help you. There are people in this city and in this world that need a lot of help. Something has gone wrong with you."
Giuliani on New York (June 1999):
"There is a lot of complexity here, a lot of deep psychological fears that people don't understand and therefore can't put on the table."
And finally, a conversation between a doctor and Giuliani during a visit to a Staten Island emergency room, where Giuliani handed out cookies to patients (November 1997):
Doctor: "Do you need a cardiogram by chance?"
Mayor: "I probably need my head examined." salon.com | March 22, 2000